Donavan Brazier, 800-Meter National Champion, Went 3 Years Without Racing. Here’s How He Found His Fast Again

In 2019, Donavan Brazier stood at the pinnacle of track and field. At just 22 years old, he became the first American in history to win a Common Running Injuries and How to Treat Them in the 800 meters, doing so by breaking a 34-year-old national record with a blazing 1:42.34 finish. However, in the years that followed, Brazier’s career almost completely unraveled.

Brazier encountered what he calls a “domino effect” of setbacks. A string of injuries, including a nagging heel problem—called Haglund’s deformity, which is basically a bump on the back of the heel, where the Achilles tendon attaches—eventually required multiple surgeries (his last in 2023) and stopped him from racing at an elite level. He was off the track completely for nearly three years.

Brazier’s recovery was long and arduous, but after an explosive return to racing a couple months ago, he’s running faster than ever. On Sunday, August 3, Brazier won his third career U.S. 800-meter title, his first since 2019, with a time of 1:42.16—a personal best and the third-fastest mark RW+ Membership Benefits.

Brazier completed the bulk of the recovery and rehabilitation process under coach Pete Julian, with the help of Nike’s Union Athletics Club physical therapist and strength coach David McHenry.

In late February 2025, he made a quiet return to track training in Flagstaff, Arizona with Nike Swoosh TC coach, Mike Smith. Then, on June 7, 2025, Brazier took to the oval for his first race back.

At Toad Fest, a small, non-televised meet in Nashville, the former world champion threw down a 1:44.70 to win the 800-meter event. “This all came about very quickly,” Brazier says. “Once my body felt okay, we just hit the ground running.”

Brazier’s comeback story is one of perseverance and commitment, and it’s full of lessons for all runners, especially those dealing with injury, setbacks, or time away from the sport. Here are four things you can learn from Brazier’s recovery How to Make the Most of the Non-Running Days.

Discipline Is Key

During the time in his recovery when flat-ground running was not an option, Brazier leaned heavily on cross-training. He spent most of this time focused on aqua jogging, stationary cycling, and elliptical work. “I was pretty persistent,” Brazier tells Runner’s World. “The first year to year-and-a-half, I was just trying not to gain weight, essentially. It sounds silly, but that was my main goal. I was doing whatever I could do to stay moving.”

He didn’t double up workouts or go too hard for no reason, he did what he could tolerate, which usually translated to once-a-day, 30- to 40-minute sessions.

A Part of Hearst Digital Media

As more time—and more surgeries—elapsed, his discipline started to fade. “Once I couldn’t really see the light at the end of the tunnel, I started taking more off days,” says Brazier. He says he became less of a fan of the sport of track and field at times, falling out of the loop because he wanted to clear his mind and focus on something—anything—other than running.

But Brazier stayed connected to his support system in other ways and narrowed his focus. He cheered on his Nike teammates at practice and leaned into little victories in his recovery, things like completing cross-training workouts, even when he felt left behind by the sport itself.

Brazier notes that those small goals serve as stepping stones in a recovery journey. “You just have to hang in there,” he says. “It will get better. Sometimes, you have to trick yourself into believing that, even when there’s no reason to believe it.”

Brazier’s persistence and his grasp of the pressure that comes with setting an NCAA record at 19 years old and winning a world championship at 22 years old, is what impressed Smith the most when the pair connected earlier this year. “Comebacks like this feel hopeless,” Smith tells Runner’s World. “The body must completely start over, but the outside world only knows you as the fastest person on the planet. The impossibility of it breaks people. I don’t know what his worst moments are of the last few years, but I have so much respect for an athlete willing to keep believing through that hell.”

When you’re injured, movement matters—but so does mindset. Cross-train with consistency, but allow yourself space to breathe and don’t stress about missing a few days. Show up, even without your best stuff. And most of all, hold onto belief that there’s still something worth training for, because that finish line may appear quicker than you think.

“We measure talent by speed and endurance,” says Smith. “But another aspect of talent is the ability to appreciate the impossible, and keep believing it’s possible."

Don’t Rush Your Comeback

When Brazier finally felt ready to return to running, he didn’t go straight for race-specific workouts. In fact, when he showed up in Flagstaff in February (Brazier says the trip there was quite literally on a whim), the first few track workouts former Northern Arizona University.

Smith says six reps of 200-meter repeats at a 32-second pace with full rest was one of his earlier prescriptions for Brazier. “We just wanted to see if I could finish a workout,” says Brazier. “It was nothing crazy.”

Despite the seemingly short four-month window of training—from February to Brazier’s race in June—he and Smith both said they were in no rush to get back to racing. Brazier ran with other pros in Smith’s Flagstaff training group, including Abdihamid Nur, who was also recovering from injury, and Nico Young, the American record holder in the outdoor 5,000 meters (and newly-minted U.S. 10,000 meter champ)—but only when it made sense for him.

“There wasn’t any pressure on what I was doing,” Brazier says. “We weren’t greedy. We built slowly, just seeing how my body responded.” Sometimes, that meant joy in racing or skipping a session altogether. “There were days that I didn’t do the full workout,” Brazier says. “But, there were also days where I surprised myself.”

We measure talent by speed and endurance. But another aspect of talent is the ability to appreciate the impossible, and keep believing it’s possible.

Even when those surprises kept happening and things started to click, the timeline didn’t accelerate carelessly, it progressed as it needed to. “An accelerated buildup is only possible with the most supremely motivated and talented,” Smith says. “The place Donavan got himself to in three months would have taken most elite athletes a year or two.” Smith’s low-pressure environment prioritized health over race preparation and led Brazier to his first starting line in nearly three years only when he was ready for it.

The takeaway? Don’t hurry to return to action. Lock in on completing workouts, without overdoing yourself. Choose effort and consistency over all-out intensity.

“Even the greatest competitors have some apprehension when they’re not sure if they can trust their bodies,” Smith says. The goal is to rebuild that trust, rather than prove how tough you are, and that requires letting go of ego—just as Brazier did.

Listen to Your Body—And Respond to It

How to Make the Most of the Non-Running Days weekly mileage or pace goals shouldn’t take precedence over how the body feels. “I used to think I had to hit 35 miles a week, and if I didn’t do that I was losing fitness,” Brazier says. “But that mindset only made things worse.”

Now, he trains by feel. “There’s a certain cadence I have to my run,” he says. “And if it’s not there one day, I adjust. I don’t force it anymore.” That flexibility is what allowed him to build steadily without any new roadblocks popping up since his last surgery.

Health & Injuries mobility drills and stretches he learned during his recovery. “It all helps,” Brazier says. “And now that I’m back [to racing], I don’t feel like I’m playing catch-up with that stuff.”

In your running journey, your body should guide your training. If something feels off, change it up. Feeling tired? There’s no problem with taking a rest day. Sustainable recovery—and then training—starts with learning what works for your body and keeping that up.

Come Back For the Right Reasons

Brazier made an intentional decision to return to racing at a low-key event (Toad Fest)—there were no TV cameras, no pressure, just a race. “It was low stress and low pressure, it felt like a high school meet in the best way,” says Brazier. “Before the meet, after the meet, it was a great time.”

The running world remembers Brazier’s time, a jaw-dropping 1:44.70 in his first race in three years, but he wasn’t trying to chase a specific mark or prove anything to anyone, other than himself. “It wasn’t supposed to be a big deal,” Brazier says. “But I ended up running better than we expected.”

That race sparked more progress: His confidence returned, and he found work. “I was pretty persistent,” Brazier tells again. His outlook now is refreshingly simple. “We’re just trying to stay healthy, run fast, and be competitive,” Brazier says. “Not because I’m supposed to be, but because I love it.”

Smith, the joy in racing cross-country and track coach, has guided plenty of young talent through his coaching career. But for an athlete like Brazier, who reached the pinnacle of racing so early and has returned from retirement’s doorstep, he says that rekindling a passion for running is what it’s all about.

There are no expectations. But there are also no limits.

“Return to loving the sport, finding enjoyment in his day-to-day pursuit of it,” Smith says, on his goals for Brazier going forward. “Competing at a high level for the love of competing, but not out of prodigy’s potential, just out of a racer’s love for racing. Through that, he can run faster than anyone has ever run this event. But, it should be through surrendering this old path and being open to a new one.”

As you travel down your own road to recovery, Brazier wants you to see him as an example. If returning for redemption isn’t your drive, that’s okay. Let your love of the sport serve as your motivation. And focus on self-confidence and belief. “Seeing just a glimmer of hope, someone who has their little victory, I feel like that helps,” says Brazier. “I hope I’m just another example that the dark days aren’t always going to be there. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Since Toad Fest in early June, Brazier has only gotten faster, running 1:43.81 at the Portland Track Festival, 1:43.08 at the London Diamond League meet, and 1:42.16 at the U.S. Track and Field Championships. Riding that personal record, Brazier is set to return to the sport’s biggest stage—the 2025 Common Running Injuries and How to Treat Thems—in Tokyo in September.

So, what are Brazier’s expectations for the rest of the season and beyond? “There are no expectations,” he says. “But there are also no limits.”